February 2011

February 17, 2011

Two San Antonio construction firms are in the running to perform work at a handful of NASA locations. Persuad Companies Inc. and Total Team Construction Services are vying against five other companies for the jobs.

The firm that is chosen will be able to support many jobs with the construction projects. Employees will be needed to perform architectural, building demolition, electrical, environmental support, partial building renovations, plumbing, and roofing work.

According to an article by the San Antonio Business Journal, NASA is looking to complete $49 million worth of general construction and repair work at Johnson Space Center, Ellington Field, Sonny Carter Training Facility, and the White Sands Test Facility.

The firms currently being considered include:

Persaud Companies Inc. in San Antonio

Total Team Construction Services Inc. in San Antonio

Competitive Choice/Gen-Tech Joint Venture in Houston

The Gee Cee Company of LA Inc. in Houston

Hallmark Capital Group in Houston

Jarreau-Durotech JV LLC in Houston

C3, LLC in Broken Arrow, Okla.

The San Antonio area's construction industry would benefit greatly from the jobs supported by the NASA projects. The industry has struggled to add jobs as the local economy continues to recover from the economic downturn.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the San Antonio-New Braunfels area's construction industry employed 45,400 workers during December, which is down from 45,600 workers during November and a .2 percent decrease from the previous year.

The company plans to use the funding in part to hire new employees in order to keep up with anticipated growth. Ulthera currently employs about 50 people and plans to hire about 30 more throughout the next year. About 10 to 15 of those jobs will be in the Phoenix area.

"Ulthera's growth has been truly impressive, especially since receiving FDA clearance in late 2009," Dr. Justin Klein, principal of New Enterprise Associates and an Ulthera board member, told the Phoenix Business Journal.

"NEA looks to invest in companies that bring highly differentiated technologies to meet the needs of medical professionals and consumers, and we are enthusiastic about Ulthera's future prospects," he added.

The local economy will benefit from the additional jobs. During December, the Phoenix area's unemployment rate decreased to 8.4 percent - which was below the national average at the time of 9.4 percent - after staying at 8.5 percent for two months in a row.

The Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale area employed about 1,741,700 workers during December, which is up from 1,738,600 workers during November and a 1.7 percent increase from the previous year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Aside from expanding its workforce, Ulthera also will use the funding to develop new clinical applications for the company's technology, as well as to continue developing new products.

February 11, 2011

A new casino is creating a variety of jobs in Cleveland, including everything from cook jobs to positions for blackjack dealers.

Cleveland will be home to the first casino in Ohio when Rock Ohio Caesars LLC opens the Cleveland Horseshoe Casino at Tower City Center in 2012. The project is expected to create 2,000 temporary construction jobs and 1,600 full-time jobs.

The four-story temporary casino will cost about $350 million and will later be replaced by a $600 million permanent casino to be located south of Tower City. The permanent casino isn't expected to open until 2013 at the earliest.

The temporary casino is being opened in the meantime in order to compete with other Ohio cities that are planning to open casinos in late 2012. The push to open casinos came after votes approved the Four Casinos Initiative in 2009.

That constitutional amendment allows casinos to be built in the cities of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo.

The projects in Cleveland are being headed by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and Gary Loveman, president and CEO of Caesar's Entertainment. Caesar's operates resort casinos under the Harrah's and Caesar's name and high-end gambling casinos under the Horseshoe name.

The Cleveland Horseshoe Casino will feature a World Series of Poker room with 25 to 30 poker tables; more than 2,000 slot machines; 65 table games; other specialized gambling areas, including a high-limits area and a VIP lounge; several restaurants; and a bar with entertainment.

February 10, 2011

The economic situation continues to improve for Denver and jobs (Click here).

A recent report from Business First of Buffalo ranked Denver 16th out of the top 100 metro areas in the nation in terms of job gains last year. The city added 7,900 private sector jobs, an increase of .78 percent, between December 2009 and December 2010.

This is good news for the Denver area, which lost 63,300 private sector jobs during the previous decade, ranking the city the 14th-worst in the nation. The city had 1,017,700 private sector jobs during December 2010, which was up from 1,009,800 during December 2009, but down from 1,081,000 during December 2000.

Of the 100 metro areas included in the report, 62 added private sector jobs last year. New York City saw the biggest increase in employment, adding 46,900 jobs over the year.

That was followed by Washington's addition of 41,800 jobs; Los Angeles's gain of 34,900 jobs; Phoenix's growth of 33,100 jobs; and Boston's addition of 31,800 jobs.

At the other end of the scale, 37 of the 100 metro areas lost jobs last year. Chicago experienced the biggest drop, losing 35,900 private sector jobs between December 2009 and December 2010.

That was followed by San Francisco's loss of 24,600 jobs; Sacramento's drop of 18,200 jobs; Detroit's decrease of 18,100 jobs; Kansas City's decline of 11,700 jobs; and Las Vegas's loss of 11,000 jobs.

Any job growth would be good news for the San Diego area, which has continued to add workers in recent months, but also has maintained a high unemployment rate following the economic recession.

During December, the area's unemployment rate decreased from 10.4 percent to 10.1 percent, after rising from 10.3 percent during November. Despite the latest drop, the area's rate is still higher than the national average of 9.4 percent.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos area employed 1,225,100 workers during December, which is up from 1,222,500 workers during November and a .5 percent increase from the previous year.

However, SDWP Director Mark Cafferty told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the EMSI study is somewhat conservative when compared to current job postings. However, he said he prefers more conservative estimates so as not to disappoint job seekers.

"Employers can be very, very picky right now because there are so many people available in the market," Cafferty said. "And some businesses are still holding off hiring because they feel they've learned to do more work with fewer workers."

February 02, 2011

A popular discount grocery store chain is looking to create several new jobs in Glendale (Click here).

WinCo is planning to create many new grocery store jobs as the company expands its operations into Arizona. So far, the company has signed leases for store spaces in Mesa and Glendale, and may consider other local spots in the future.

"It's clear we're interested and we've looked and are looking," Michael Read, vice president of public and legal affairs for WinCo, told the East Valley Tribune. "But in terms of timing, potential sites, where - it's far too early to comment. In this economy, we've actually scaled back expansion plans."

Any new jobs would benefit the Glendale area's economy, which is continuing to recover from the economic recession. During December, the area's unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent, one full percentage point below the national average of 9.4 percent.

The Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale area employed about 1,741,700 workers during December, which is up from 1,738,600 workers during November and a 1.7 percent increase from last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

WinCo is an employee-owned grocery store chain with 78 operations in Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Utah. The company currently employs about 14,000 people and brings in yearly sales of almost $5 billion.

The company's larger-than-average stores focus on low prices by such measures as asking shoppers to bag their own groceries. That way of operating could result in tough competition for the many other grocery stores that operate throughout the valley.

The survey found that there were 3,063,162 registered nurses throughout the nation during 2008, an increase of 5.3 percent from 2004. About 2,596,399, or 84.8 percent, of RNs were working in the nursing field as of 2008.

The majority, about 62.2 percent, of RNs employed in the nursing field work in hospitals. About 66.3 percent of working RNs are employed as "staff nurses" and about 12.5 percent work in management and administration.

The survey further found:

12 percent of full-time RNs and 14 percent of part-time RNs have a second nursing job.

More than 50 percent of RNs work at least 40 hours per week.

45.4 percent of RNs have an Associate Degree in Nursing, while 34.2 percent have a bachelor's degree, and 20.4 percent have a hospital diploma.

Full-time RNs earned an average of $66,973 per year during 2008, a 15.9 percent increase from 2004.

29.3 percent of RNs are extremely satisfied with the salaries they earn, while 51.8 percent are moderately satisfied, and 11.1 percent are not satisfied.

3 percent of RNs under 55-years old planned to leave their nursing job within three years.